Frozen Revalations
by SCARlettWinter
Summary: Annnoyed with everyone's Christmas cheer, Naruto decides to take a walk around. As he ponders his thoughts, on Christmas, he meets a stranger...he is right?


Well, here's my Christmas fic, sadly, it is a day late. So, you'll just have to blame a certain someone from keeping me away from my computer. Even, sadder, this is my first Naruto fanfic, so I'm not sure if I got all the characters right.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Naruto_ or any of its sexy boys.

**Explanations:** Naruto is still a genin in this one-shot, dont ask why. Even I don't know.

**Frozen Revelations**

Crunch.

Wraaping paper being torn to shreds and cries of evident delight; some brats got what they wanted after all.

Crunch.

Booming laughter; apparently some families did enjoy eachother's company.

Crunch.

Some familiy attempting to sing carols in perfect harmony, and failing miserably.

Crunchcrunchcrunch.

The frozen ground was being indented by a numerous amount of sandal-clad footprints as Naruto Uzamaki trudged throught the thick layer of snow.

All this, Naruto saw and heard as he strolled along the streets, his breath forming a light mist in the crisp, cold air, hands in his pockets. And all this, for the last few years, made Naruto increasingly uncomfortable, not to mention annoyed, and still continued to do so.

Christmas, as much as he loathed to admit even to himself, was just another holiday reminding him of what he didn't have, what he couldn't ever remeber having.

A family.

Upset and slightly flustered by his sudden revelation, Naruto pulled out the kunai that he had, for lack of a better word, 'borrowed', from Iruka.

His small, calloused digits ran over the smooth metal, lightly carresing the sharp edges. Suddenly, Naruto had the most inexplicable desire to throw the stolen weapon. The sudden urge caught him off guard. Naruto knew that as much as he'd love to start throwing the kunai around, (including various other things), he didn't really feel like being yelled at by all the damned happy-go-lucky families.

So, the young genin continued to walk forward aimlessly, not wanting to end up being blamed for something as simple as standing outside. He treked on, searching for somewhere that was completely free of all these happy-go-lucky morons. Naruto having continued his pattern of not watching where he was going, tilted his head up, looking to the left, and noticed that he had been walking alongside the frozen river.

It was some time before Naruto finally stopped, when he noticed a bridge to his left, now lightly covered in snow, stretching over a river that had frozen over. Naruto made his way towards it, absent-mindedly brushing away the snow that had gathered on his hair and shoulders. Resting his hands on the bridge-rail and ignoring the cold that bit at them, he leaned over to stare at his distorted reflection in the ice.

He knew that a small part of him hadn't always resented Christmas, and all holidays in general, but he couldn't recall a time when he _had_ looked forward to the holidays. However, Naruto _could _remember why he hated Christmas more than any other holiday, the answer was simple to even him; Christmas was a holiday spent with _family._

And with that Naruto closed his eyes, resting his blond-spiked head over his crossed arms on the bridge rail.

Naruto sighed heavily, watching the mist his breath created as it appeared against the falling white particles, dissolve into nothing, as they spiraled downward.

Then he suddenly sensed a presence to his right, as though someone had simply materialised beside him.

He whirled around to face whoever it was recalling something Iruka had said about not leting anyone sneak up on you. He failed to notice the fallen kunai that had slipped from his grip.

It was a man, who had to be at least five feet taller than Naruto, with his arms crossed over the bridge-rail and looking as though she was peering out at the river. Taking in his appearance at a glance, Naruto noticed that he wore the same outfit that Iruka wore, with the addition of a short-sleeve long white coat with red flame edges. He had spiky blond hair, with chin-length strands framing both sides of his face. The only part that Naruto was unable to see, as he had not brushed back all of his hair, were his eyes.

Naruto's own eyes hardened in a glare. How had this guy got so close without him noticing?

"Who the heck are you?" the little blond snapped.

No answer. The man just gazed to gaze out towards the river, as thought he hadn't heard a thing. Naruto's eyes scrunched up angrily.

"Oi."

Not a single word.

It took all of Naruto's self-restraint to prevent himself from blowing up at this stranger. He narrowed his eyes, in the expression he usually wore when he didn't understand something, as he studied the man further. There was something odd about him. Suddenly, a freezing wind blew over them, causing a fresh wave of snow to dump on him. The young Uzamaki growled angrily, brushing the frozen substance out of his now damp hair. His blond head snapped back to the stranger, waiting for him to laugh or tease him ruthlessly.

But the man had still not uttered a single word, nor had he given any sign of moving.

Confusion and realization swooped down upon him as he noticed something else. Unlike Naruto, there was absolutely no sign that the snow had even touched him. The frozen white particles seemed to dissappear from where the mysterious stranger stood. How the hell was that even possible? Especially since the man looked as if he had no intention of ever moving again.

Irritated and wanting answers, Naruto reached out and clutched the his elbow. The snow crunched beneath his feet as he was forced to face the small blond. Naruto caught a glimpse of a pale, impassive face,

-and then found himself staring into a pair of bright, depthless, and surprisingly familiar blue eyes...his eyes? No, that was impossible...but there was somthing about those eyes, that were widening rapidly in what seemed to be recognition.

_...ear-splitting growls...furious, outraged cries..._

_...screams from the ninjas..and villagers..._

_....more earth-quaking stomps..._

_...an animal's roar....._

_...two cool, masked, blue eyes watching calmly..._

_....a sudden flash of blue-white light...._

_....and the loud wailing...of a child...._

Naruto snached his hand back, suddenly wary, and both blondes took an automatic step back in unison. Their matching eyes stayed locked, their breathing coming out in sharp rasps. The snow continued to descend upon them in odd wayward manners, since the wind continued to breeze through it.

Naruto could see himself reflected in the man's blue eyes, eyes that were as blue as his own, but shaped slightly different. However, only a small part of his brain seemed to be processing these little differences, the larger part was more centered on way this person was so familiar. Naruto snapped his eyes shut, hiding his blue orbs from view, still panting heavily, and trying to make sense of what had just happened.

And there was that sudden surge of warmth Naruto had felt when he'd latched onto the older man's arm. It was nothing like the warmth one gets when gets when dressng correctly on a frigid day like this one(which Naruto himself had failed to do), nor was it the warmth one felt when crouching closely to a furnace. No; this type of warmth was of a much deeper kind, just from that single touch, Naruto had been given the feeling of true warmth. It seemed to have ignited a fire within him, burning all the feelings of emptiness that had taken root in his being for as long as he could remember. And now, somehow, there was new sensation, of being...comforted. Never in his life, with the exceptions of few, could Naruto recall being cared for, let alone comforted.

The as if suddenly released from some kind of trance, the stranger breathed in sharply, a pale hand reaching out, as if to touch Naruto, but the man's arm fell back to his side. The stranger's eyes ran over Naruto hungrily, as if he might not get a chance to see him again, and noticed that the young genin's eyes were still closed, his small hands clamped on the railing in front of him. The man, suddenly remembering something, tore his eyes away from the boy reluctantly, and looked towards the ground. There, partially embedded into the snow covered ground, a small, sharp peice of medal poked out. The older blond squatted down, and parted the snow to find that the object was a kunai - a very sharp kunai, to be precise.

He then stood up, the small weapon held between two long fingers, and turned to his attention towards the young boy.

"...Excuse me."

Naruto jerked, pulling his hands away from the frozen rail. His still slightly dazed eyes immediately landed on the tall stranger that stood before him, and then realized that he'd had just spoken for the first time. His voice was deep, but hold a soft quality to it, and also had that increasingly frustrating familiarity about it.

"Excuse me." The man repeated, "I think this belongs to you."

He held out something to Naruto, and the genin realized that it was the kunai he'd taken from Iruka. He must have dropped when starled by the man's presecence.

Regaining a hold on himself oncemore, Naruto straightened and reached forward to take it back. The man held onto it for perhaps a moment longer than was necessary, as if suddenly deciding that it was no toy for a child and should probably keep it, before realizing what he was doing and let go. Naruto took it back quickly and turned it over in his small hands, head bent as he studied for any changes that might have happened to it because of the odd stranger's touch.

Then, suddenly realizing, that now was his chance to unleash his numerous questions upon the stranger, Naruto's head snapped up, a superior grin on his whiskered face. But the adorable grin soon vanished as he noticed that it was only him now. Alone. Where could have the man had gotten to? Wouldn't he, Naruto, the future Hokage of the Hidden Leaf had noticed if someone had come and gone in his prescence before vanishing without a trace?

Frustrated and alone, Naruto began to trudge silently towards his lonesome home again, grumbling silently to himself. Somewhere in the distance, a clock struck midnight and chimed, various calls of "Merry Christmas" seemed to sound around him and all over Konoha. Snow still poured over him, and he brushed it off his goggles impatiently. Naruto let out a sigh, which resulted in a puff of cold air from him. As much as he detested the idea of going back to his empty house, he hated the idea of being turned into a human icicle even more.

"Merry Christmas" A familiar voice rang out from behind him.

Naruto's head snapped backwards sharply to see the stranger still watching him. The young genin's fists rubbed at his brilliant blue eyes, trying to make sure he wasn't hallucinating from hypo...diarrhea, or whatever Iruka called it.

The stranger turned on his heel, waling in the opposite direction, his sillhouete still visible to Naruto, despite the quickly thickening snow. Then, without stopping, the strangers hand went up, as if to wave good-bye, and Naruto returned the gesture amost automatically. Feeling an odd sense of urgent desperation, Naruto called out to the retreating form.

"Merry Christmas!"

As soon as the words left him, the same feeling of warmth seemed to light up inside him, causing him to smile slightly. Truth dawned upon him as the words left him, and Naruto realized that it was the first time today he'd said those words to someone.

Ah, well. At least he meant it.


End file.
